Crowded Crashdown
by Mutant Horse
Summary: It's a busy night at the crashdown. Maria finds herself wondering.


Summary: Maria works the late shift with Michael at the Crashdown and muses about aliens, sex and Michael.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters.

  
**CROWDED CRASHDOWN**

  
"Miss? Miss!" Yet another customer interrupts her brooding, she looked at the over eager customer with contempt and pastes a fake smile on and holds up her ordering pad.

"How can I help you…sir" she added a tinge of impatience and then the guy was spurred into action. She took his order, told him to sit down and… "I'll bring you're meal out to you," she smiled again, this time it was more of a genuine smile as she headed to the counter where Michael appeared once in a while. 

The night had been very busy, too busy for her liking, of course it meant a lot more pay but…she preferred the nights where she and Liz could joke around and rate the guys… Maria was the only one who seemed to do that anymore. Now that Elizabeth Parker was too wrapped up in her darling Max, to give her best friend the time of day. That really annoyed Maria, she'd been there first for her, and now... she'd shut her out of her life basically, maybe it was a fact of life.

__

Girl meets boy, 

Girl falls for boy, 

Girl forgets best friend. 

But that didn't mean she had to like it. 

  
Besides--Max was an alien. Maria didn't think she was being a hypocrite, her and Michael had a strictly physical relationship. But they hadn't had sex, no way; she wasn't having a sexual encounter with an alien to find out that their sperm burned through condoms and that she got pregnant, which would be horrible.

  
Like… "Hi mom! Guess what! Your new baby is green, covered with slime, and it has two heads, did I forget to mention the fathers an alien from outer space?"

  
Fat chance.

  
That didn't mean she didn't want to, she didn't want to chance it of course, and then there'd be the whole consequences thing, which Maria could totally get. Like the awkward thing, and then there'd be the whole urge to talk about it.

  
Funny how females tend to do that, scares male cretins right off, she wasn't saying Michael wasn't a male cretin, because he was. But the thing that got to her was how he was about to open up… and then some save the world crap stuff comes up, Max, Isabel, Liz and maybe even Tess run in and then yell. "Quick, quick! The worlds ending!" and then it turns out to be solved by Max's power, which they didn't find out in the first place, Maria thought it was a plot against them even as a relationship was based, because after every little episode they had with danger Michael Guerin would retreat even further into himself.

  
He's looking at her weirdly, she wonders what's wrong, was there something on her face? Nope. So what was it? 

"Are you going to give me that order any time soon?" 

  
So that was it.

Maria handed the order over, glowering at him from underneath her eyelashes. She turned around and headed towards the counter again. She handled the next rush of customers and then got herself a cherry coke. Women didn't need men, they had fake sperm these days. And she knew she was going to be reminded a lot tonight.

  
"Y'know, the alien theme of this gets a bit old" Michael said, Maria wrinkled her nose slightly.

  
"This is Roswell, Michael, you know, _alien's_ crashed here, besides... my mother is in the retail business," Maria retorted allowing a small smirk to cross her features as turned back to her drink allowing herself to daydream as she watched him out of the corners of her eyes.

  
_Jeez he looks fine today._

The sudden thought entered her brain, "ARGH!" she thumped her hands against her forehead and Michael gave her another strange look, he'd been getting a lot of practice in that lately. She had been acting weird. So what? It's not like he cared or anything.

****

Later that night

  
  
Maria wiped the tables down and then carried the plates over to the counter where she dropped them and then made a second trip. Knifes and forks, wow, what a stimulating work place. She thought scornfully to herself, she saw Michael, he was about to make himself a hamburger, the non-traditional way. "Uh, uh, uh." She said shaking her head at him he jumped looking guilty. "The traditional way is best, you are not blowing up the grill_ again_, make it the usual way, then they won't taste half as bad." she warned.

  
"Who said I'm making you one," he snapped, ouch, male ego alert, geez, can't they ever take a little advice? I mean who cares! It's not like they'll never live it down. Well, they won't. But they could accept help. Once in a while, maybe. Or maybe not, she reflected, as there was a crash in the kitchen.

  
"Mend it!" she yelled and Michael came out clutching his hand. "Aww, poor baby, what'd you do?" she asked sweetly, she saw the sight of blood and frowned slightly, she glanced up at Michael worriedly.

  
"Nothing, I just cut it," he said gritting his teeth.

  
"Don't you have that healing thingy that Max has?" she asked, he shook his head and she sighed exasperated and then made him sit down, cleaning up his wound clumsily with the first aid kit he grunted in pain and tried to pull away. "Sit down spaceboy, you ain't gonna heal with powers so I'm going to have to try and speed it up the human way."

  
"I am part human you know"

  
"No, I don't know, because you don't talk to me."

Oops, Maria didn't mean for it to come out like that, that was harsh.

  
"If you didn't make such a big deal out of it I would!" 

  
"I'm a _woman,_ Michael, not a sorry excuse for a man, only men don't care. I'm say you've got that human capacity down flat" she snorted and he growled. She poked out her tongue at him and then went back to work. Looking after her he sighed and then started to grudgingly help, after they finished they both slung the aprons up and then he opened the door to let her out first. He switched off the lights. Flipped the open sign over to closed and then closed the door behind him.

  
They didn't speak until they parted ways and then they muttered goodbye. Michael waited for a couple of seconds and followed, when she reached her house the automatic light switched on and she unlocked the door, slipped in and closed it behind her. When the light in her room went on Michael relaxed and started walking home. He heard her window slipping open. "Hey spaceboy! Wanna watch a video?" she called out into the darkness, he smirked to himself and turned around.

  
"If it'll make you feel better pixie." He trudged towards her window and climbed in.

  
She smiled at him and he went to get the popcorn. Maria flopped down on her bed, clutching a video in her hands. _Maybe women do need men after all; maybe they're not so bad, _she thought to herself with a grin.


End file.
